Oh my, it’s been a while since your last visit, hasn’t it? Well, we’re so glad to see you! We’ve been keeping plenty busy here on the farm- lets catch up, shall we?
When you last stopped by, we were working on re-siding the house, removing the utility lines, moving the heat pump out of sight, and waiting on our excavator crew to rebuild the last wall under the barn- all of these projects have since wrapped up! There are still a few details to attend to, but with so much else to do before winter, some just may have to wait until spring.
The rest of the siding went up as before- strip the old clapboards, address any rot, admire the beautiful, original, what-appear-to-be-pit-sawn-sheathing boards, spray expanding foam in the gaps, apply ice and water shield on the lower wall, tar paper on the rest, new window trim and sills where needed, then new pre-primed, and pre-painted hemlock clapboards. We’re thrilled with the results, at least aesthetically, and have to imagine our efforts will make quite a difference to our heating costs once the cold weather hits.
The same day that the utility companies showed up to connect the underground service and take down the overhead wires, our excavating crew also came to begin restacking the last wall under the barn, and the re-grading of the back yard. This provided a real challenge to the poor guys who also came that day to move our heat pump from the front corner of the house to behind the screen porch (6th picture below). Definitely crowded!
Having the barn foundation sound, and the drainage system complete, is a tremendous peace-of-mind for us, and will hopefully allow this old barn to stand another 240 years. Plus having the yard re-graded will make it much more functional for us- allowing us to have dedicated gardening spaces, a ramp to allow round-the-house access, a fire pit area, ample water run-off, and will show off the beautiful stone walls.
We took advantage of the excavating crew being onsite by having them add hardpack (the same as we’ve used for the driveway and barn road) to the old shed floor (after we cleaned it out). We also removed the old janky doors that were straining the walls, so we can use it as a car port this winter. We then had a neighbor friend remove a few ash trees that were threatening to get too large, too near the shed. This old shed had a large tree limb crash through the roof years ago- Jenny and I rebuilt one half of the roof last year, and will rebuild the other side before it gets much colder this year. Next spring, we’ll jack it up and replace the broken sill, straighten the wall, build new doors, and use it as a garage for Jenny’s MG. It’s such a sweet little building- it deserves to be loved and used!
While it’s been very busy trying to wrap up the siding- working sunup to sundown, seven days a week for three solid months, now that it’s finished, we still have lots to do before winter sets in. We need to finish the shed roof, clean the barn of all the summer’s construction mess to make room to store our old cars for the winter, get some bulbs in the ground for next spring’s blooms, winterize what needs to get put away, and get ready what we’ll need for the snow. We have plenty of cordwood stacked up, waiting for lots of fires in the hearth, while we address the stacks of books we’ve accumulated. We’re really looking forward to some downtime this winter, and especially to being warm!
Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to let us know if you have any questions or comments, and feel free to share! Take care and God Bless!
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